As exemplified in Almeras et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,003, which issued to Societe de Prospection et d'Inventions Techniques S.P.I.T. of Paris, France, it is known to provide a steel pin, having a head, a shank, and a point, with a steel washer, having an outer diameter equal approximately to the outer diameter of the head, for guiding the steel pin in the muzzle, barrel, or nosepiece of a driving or setting tool. The steel washer is carried on the shank, in axially spaced relation to the head, and is movable toward the head when the pin with the washer is forcibly driven into a substrate, either directly or through a workpiece, so that the washer bears against the substrate or the workpiece. As exemplified therein, the steel washer also performs an energy-absorbing function.
As exemplified by a steel pin made and sold by Societe de Prospection et d'Inventions Techniques S.P.I.T., supra, under Product Designation SBR 14, it is known for the steel pin to have a head, an ogival point, a knurled shank, which is not tapered, and a transition zone having a tapered portion between the knurled shank and the head. The SBR 14 pin is made from carbon steel having a carbon content in a range from 0.58 percent to 0.62 percent.
As known heretofore, the steel pin can be made from a predetermined length of carbon steel wire, which has a carbon content not less than 0.35 percent and which can be surface hardened or through hardened. AISI C 1038 steel, which has a carbon content in a range from 0.35 percent to 0.41 percent, can thus be used. Moreover, the predetermined length of carbon steel wire is formed in an initial step so as to form an intermediate part, which has a head to become the head of the steel pin, a shank to become the shank of the steel pin, and an end portion, on which the point is formed in a further step. As known heretofore, the point is formed by rotary swaging or by so-called "pinch pointing", which refers to forging between two forging dies.